In April 2022, Bayern Munich beat Borussia Dortmund 3-1 at home to clinch its 10th successive Bundesliga title. Nearly a year later, both teams meet again at the Der Klassiker on Saturday.
The managers are different, and the stakes are higher as Thomas Tuchel, the former Dortmund manager, will be in charge of the other side at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
According to former Dortmund legend Paul Lambert, this game, with 13 more matches to go, will again prove to be a title decider.
“If Bayern loses, the title goes to Dortmund. I do not see Dortmund losing many points from here till the end of the season,” he told reporters in a virtual interaction on Thursday.
Bayern and its former manager Julian Nagelsmann had a strange last week when the club decided to part ways with the manager during the international break.
Bayern played its last match under Nagelsmann against Bayer Leverkusen, where two second-half goals saw the Bavarians lose the game 2-1.
“I was at the Bayern game where it took the lead. It wasn’t that great a game. Leverkusen was really good in the second half, and you kept thinking that Bayern would step up, but it never got going,” said Lambert, who won the Champions League with Dortmund in 1997.
The loss, with Dortmund beating Cologne 6-1 at the same time, saw the Bavarians go second in the Bundesliga table, and Nagelsmann was shown the door mid-season – a decision Lambert did not see coming.
Nagelsmann’s shock sacking after loss to Leverkusen
“Nagelsmann going was a huge shock,” he said. “Though his playing career was cut short by injuries, he is not a novice to the football environment, and I think he, too, knew the risks of the job he was getting into.
You need a lot of luck with injuries to make it (successful) in football. But you got to give it to him. Doing so well at Hoffenheim, then Leipzig and then at Bayern. I have been to some seminars where he has spoken and he is very good.”
In the 84 games that Nagelsmann managed for the Bavarians, he lost just 10 and had a win percentage of 71.4 per cent.
He won two German Super Cups and the Bundesliga title with them, maintaining a 100 per cent win record in the Champions League this season, including two clean sheets over Lionel Messi’s Paris Saint-Germain.
“When you look (at the numbers), the records are really high. They have a really good side and really strong players. (Whatever happened) Behind the scenes, I do not know, but for an outsider, I was thinking what is happening over there?” Lambert added.
However, Bayern chairman Oliver Kahn said that the quality of the squad - despite the German championship last year - has shown itself less and less often.”
“After the World Cup, we played less and less successfully and attractively. The strong fluctuations in performance called our goals into question this season, and also beyond this season. That’s why we’ve reacted now,” he said in a statement.
The man who replaced him, Tuchel, comes in after a surprise sacking too.
After winning the Champions League with Chelsea in his first season at the club, an unimpressive start in the Premier League 2022-23 and a loss to Dinamo Zagreb in the UCL this season saw him leave Stamford Bridge.
‘It is not against Thomas Tuchel, it is against Bayern Munich’
Bayern sits second in the table with 52 points, and Der Klassiker may just be a shot at redemption for the German.
“I think they have done it to have a short-term effect and try and get Bayern to win this (title),” he said. “Bayern’s biggest problem was when it lost Robert Lewandowski. How do you replace somebody who scores 50 goals a season? So, that’s an incredible level of goalscoring, irrespective of what competition you are playing in.”
The team opposite to his and the first team he faces as Bayern manager is one he once knew inside out, one whose five-year trophy drought was ended by him in 2017, winning the DFB Pokal in 2017.
Then Dortmund head coach Thomas Tuchel lifts the DFB Cup trophy as the team celebrates during a winner’s parade at Borsigplatz on May 28, 2017 in Dortmund, Germany. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
“It is not against Thomas Tuchel, it is against Bayern Munich. I think the players know that,” Lambert said.
“The young players and the older players realise that this is a great opportunity for them to win (the Bundesliga) for the first time in 10 years. I think they have got the momentum, and the pressure is on Bayern.”
Dortmund is unbeaten in Bundesliga since November last year and has scored an average of three goals per game in its last five matches in the league. It may be boosted by the return of Julian Brandt, who was forced off the pitch early on during the Champions League clash against Chelsea.
“I think the team is peaking at the right time. The young and experienced players are finding form. (Juian) Brandt was starting to look very good until the injury. With (Jude) Bellingham, I think he has a great sense of consistency in his games,” said Lambert.
“Wolff has been terrific at right back. I think he is great and has (deservedly) been called up to the national team. The team has a great set of players, and so I think this is their best chance to get a result (in their favour) on Saturday.”
Watch the LIVE coverage of Bundesliga Der Klassiker - Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund on Sony Sports Ten 2 channels from 10:00 PM (IST) on 1st April 2023
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